


A Real Farm

by DianaandAlicia



Series: Post Good Out Here [11]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Animals, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, Punishment, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 09:44:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15816378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: When Althea comes back with the others from the trading post, she finds out that Alicia and Morgan's week had been a little bit rocky.Plus, this family has some new members.





	A Real Farm

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is I think the longest Post Good Out Here story in the series and I hope you like it!

Morgan was sitting in the living room reading a book when he heard the swat van and truck pull up. It’s been a week and a half since John, Victor, Luciana and Althea left to go trade crops for farm animals. 

Morgan put the book down and went outside to meet them. “Welcome back!” He greeted, giving everyone a hug.

“Did you and Alicia have a good time?” Althea asked, looking around, trying to find Alicia.

“Well....kind of.”

“Where is she?” Al asked.

“She’s pouting in her room.” Morgan explained, looking back at the house.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“She threw a fit because you guys were a day late. She was keeping tally and she said that you were supposed to be home yesterday. I told her that something must have sidetracked you and it’d be ok. She obviously didn’t want to hear that so she bit me on the arm and threw a massive fit.”

“She _bit_ you?” Althea asked, unsure if she heard Morgan right.

“Yeah. Sank her teeth in and drew blood too. I grounded her in her room for the rest of the day and she’s grounded for a week, starting tomorrow. I also took her doll away and told her she’d have plenty of chores to keep her entertained while she served her punishment.” Morgan explained.

Althea nodded, agreeing with Morgan’s decided punishment. While she agreed that Morgan had to discipline Alicia, she still felt uneasy about it, especially since Alicia isn’t a child. She’s an adult and the last thing Althea wanted was to treat Alicia like a helpless baby.

“Let the others show you what we got, I’m going to go talk to Alicia.” Al said, pointing to the trailers and trucks.

She walked into the house and climbed the stairs, stopping at Alicia's door and knocking.

“Alicia, Baby Girl, It’s me. Can I come in?” She asked, waiting for the girl to give permission. She heard the springs in the mattress squeak and Alicia opened the door rather quickly. She hugged Althea close to her and Al returned the hug. 

When they broke the hug, Al led Alicia to the bed and sat down. She saw that Nick’s flannel lay rumpled by the pillow, and Alicia’s eyes were rimmed with red, as if she was crying.

“Morgan says that you bit him today and threw a tantrum fit for a two-year-old. I was very disappointed to hear that.” 

“He was treating me like a baby.” Alicia whined, not giving Althea eye contact.

“So, you responded by acting like a baby? Alicia you know better than to bite people. We don’t do that here. You’re almost 21 years old and we shouldn’t even be having a conversation like this yet here we are.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me. You need to apologize to Morgan. You will do that after your shower tonight.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Good.”

“Did you get animals?”

“Yes, we did. Two cows, four pigs, two sheep, and ten chickens with seven hens and three roosters.”

“Can we go look at them?”

“No. Morgan says you’re grounded in your room for the rest of the night. Tomorrow we’re going to discuss your new chores and then you can see the animals. One of them is for you anyways.”

“For me? Like, a pet?”

“Well technically they are all of our pets but one of the hens we brought home has only one leg, and she needs someone special to take care of her. She’s yours if you want her.”

“Oh I do, I do!” Alicia begged. She’s always wanted a pet chicken.

“Ok.” Was all Althea said. “So, what did you and Morgan do while we were gone?”

“Well the first three days we canned and jarred and preserved all the food from the garden. Before that on the first day though, we stored all the potatoes in the cellar. On day four, Morgan spent the whole day roasting soybeans outside and we had two of the big washtubs filled with dried soybeans. On day five, we ground the soybeans into flour and filled five of the flour cannisters. On day six, Morgan had me shuck corn and he put the ears on trays in the oven. We have so many corns that there are still three more trays that need to go in. Since the oven cycle takes eight hours, we could only do a few cycles a day.”

“So, after all the corn is dried, we just have to take all the kernels and grind it into cornmeal.” Althea said.

“Yeah.”

“Well now that we’re home, it’ll go faster with all of us working on it.”

“Al?”

“Yes, Alicia?” 

“Can I not be grounded anymore?”

“Alicia that’s not how it works.”

“But you’re back now and you can override Morgan.”

“No, I cannot override Morgan. He’s the one who punished you so he’s the one who lifts your punishment.”

“BUT THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Alicia yelled, her face getting red.

“I’m not going to have this discussion with you if you’re just going to act like a brat.” Althea said, getting up and walking to the door. “Maybe when I bring you your supper, you’ll be more reasonable.”

Althea left the room and shut the door behind her, hearing Alicia start to cry as she walked away from the door. She sighed, knowing she’d have to talk to the others about this. If Alicia was going to act like a child, then maybe for a bit they’d have to treat her like one.

A few hours later, Al came up to Alicia’s room carrying a tray with some fish, potatoes and green beans on it. A cup of water was also on the tray and she set it down on the little table. 

“Alicia, are you ready to cooperate with me?”

“Am I still grounded?”

“Yes.”

“Then no.”

“Maybe you need to be grounded for two weeks instead of just one.”

“No!” Alicia protested, walking over to the table to eat.

“When you’re done eating, bring your tray down. You will apologize to Morgan and then you will take a shower, get ready for bed and go to bed. Do I make myself clear Alicia?”

“Yes Ma’am.” Alicia said sullenly. She hated early bedtime.

“Al?” She asked tentatively.

“Yes?”

“Could you ask Morgan if I could have my doll back for bed tonight?”

“I thought you only slept with Nick’s flannel.”

“I sleep with Nellie in the bed too.”

“I’ll ask him. But don’t be surprised if he says no.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Althea went back downstairs and about thirty minutes later, Alicia appeared, bringing her tray down.

After handing the tray to John, who was washing the dishes, she turned to Morgan. 

“Morgan?”

“Yes Alicia?”

“I’m really sorry for being a brat and throwing a tantrum. But mostly I'm sorry for biting you. I never should have done that.”

“Thank you for the apology Alicia. I forgive you.”

Alicia smiled and went over to Morgan to hug him.

When they were done hugging, she looked at Althea with an expression that said ‘did you ask him about the doll?’

“Morgan, Alicia wants to know if she can have her doll back.” Al said, setting her water cup down.

“Not tonight. If Alicia doesn’t cause any more trouble the rest of the night, or tomorrow, she can maybe have her doll back before bedtime tomorrow night. Nellie has to be earned back, Alicia. I need to see that you truly want to behave better.”

“Then can I at least put her in her pajamas before I go to bed? She can’t sleep in her pink dress at night, that’d be uncomfortable.”

“Changing her clothes would mean having contact with her and playing with her Alicia. You may not put her in her pajamas. If it really means that much to you, I can put Nellie in her pajamas for you.”

“But-”

“Alicia.” Victor’s voice boomed in the small kitchen. “You heard Morgan speak. Go get ready for bed.”

“Yes Sir.” Alicia whimpered, leaving the kitchen and going upstairs.

Once Alicia was all ready for bed, she went back downstairs to say goodnight to everyone. After being dismissed, she went back up to her room and sat on the bed, waiting. She heard the others settle in the living room and once she knew everyone was settled and wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon, she tip-toed out of her bedroom, careful to avoid squeaky floor boards and snuck into Morgan’s bedroom. She saw Nellie sitting on the chair by Morgan’s desk so she grabbed her, freezing in her spot when she heard the door creak open a bit.

“And just what do you think you’re doing Young Lady?”

Alicia turned and saw John standing there, looking stern.

“I wanted my doll.” Alicia mumbled, looking at her feet.

“Come with me.” Was all John said, leaving Morgan’s bedroom. Alicia followed behind him miserably, her heart dropping when they walked past her room and she realized that John was taking her downstairs.

“Alicia? What are you doing up?” Luciana asked as the two entered the living room. She looked at the clock and saw that it has been about twenty minutes since she went up to bed. 

“Go ahead Alicia, tell them where I found you.”

“I snuck into Morgan’s room to get my doll.”

“You what?” Victor asked, hoping he heard her wrong.

“I snuck into Morgan’s bedroom to steal my doll back.” Alicia repeated, not making eye contact with anyone.

“Alicia you know we don’t go into another person’s room without permission. And we definitely don’t go through stuff that doesn’t belong to us. You should be ashamed.” Althea said, giving Alicia a disappointed look.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not. If you were, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Luciana scolded, surprising everyone.

“You’re grounded for two more weeks.” Althea said. “Go to bed Alicia.” 

Alicia felt her face heat up from both embarrassment and sadness. It was bad enough that Morgan grounded her and took her doll away, but now she was grounded for an additional two weeks. It wasn’t fair.

She didn’t dare argue though. The last thing she needed was to add anymore punishments to what she had. She still wanted her doll though, and she was going to get her no matter what it took.

Alicia went to bed and laid quietly, listening to the house. She waited a few hours until the house was completely silent and once she was sure that everyone had gone to bed, she snuck down into the kitchen and took one of the butcher knives that was lodged in the knife holder.

She slowly and quietly snuck into Morgan’s room, holding the knife, and she saw that he had moved her doll, so it was sitting on a high shelf. One she wouldn’t be able to reach easy.

Morgan was in a deep sleep, snoring loudly. Alicia hoped she could do this and sneak back to her room undetected but it seemed like nothing could go right for her.

She quietly took a three-legged stool and situated it under the shelf, standing on it as carefully as she could. She slowly reached for the doll and just as she was about to grasp it, she heard Morgan’s low voice break the silence in the room.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing.”

Alicia was so startled by Morgan waking up that she dropped the knife and fell off the stool, landing on the floor with a thud.

Morgan quickly turned the light on and got out of bed, grabbing the knife and setting it to where Alicia couldn’t get to it. He then knelt down by Alicia, concerned.

“Are you hurt?” He asked, checking her over to make sure she didn’t break any bones in the fall. The sound of the crash caused the four others to come into the bedroom, concern written all over their faces.

“What’s going on?” Althea asked, taking in the scene around them.

“Alicia broke into my room again, this time with a knife, to steal the doll.” Morgan explained.

“Is she hurt?”

“Not seriously. She might have some bruises or be sore from the fall tomorrow, but she isn’t injured.”

Althea nodded and looked to Victor. “Victor we need to talk.”

He nodded and the two left the room to go downstairs.

Luciana tucked Alicia back in, this time locking her in her room, and she, John and Morgan went to bed too.

After talking for a while, and making agreements, Victor and Althea went to bed, hoping everything would be better in the morning.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Alicia woke up to Althea shaking her.

“Come down for breakfast, we have things we need to talk about.” She said as she went to Alicia’s dresser and pulled out a short-sleeve shirt and overalls.

When she came down all dressed, she saw Althea and Victor sitting at the table. Luciana, Morgan and John were nowhere to be found.

We have two things we want to talk to you about.” Althea said as Alicia sat.

“First, we wanted to discuss your god-awful behavior.” Victor said.

“From now on, if you’re going to act like a child who can’t do as their told, we’re going to treat you like a child.” Althea explained. “You will do as your told, when you’re told and you will not argue. If you disobey, you will have privileges taken away and you’ll be punished.”

“What kind of punishments?”

“Well, you’re an adult. We feel like childish punishments like naps, timeouts or spankings would do nothing but humiliate you so those are off the table. If we ever do make you take a nap, know that it’s not a punishment, and we’re only making you do it because we think you need rest.” Althea explained.

“We’ve decided that when we say that you’re grounded, that means that you’ll get more chores, and anytime that would have been spent during the day having fun, will be forfeited for more time to do work.” Victor added.

Alicia nodded, agreeing with those punishment options.

“What about taking away privileges? There isn’t anything to really take away anymore.”

“You’re right. We can’t take away tv, internet use or electronics because we don’t have those anymore. But we can take away your doll, or take away rocking time. Not being allowed to go on a run with us or something like that.” Victor said.

“But Alicia, we’d never ever take away Nick’s flannel. And you still will never have consequences if you get sad about missing your brother. That will never change, I promise you that.” Althea added, wanting Alicia to know that she’ll never be penalized for expressing her emotions in a healthy way.

“Now Alicia, we need to know, when you went into Morgan’s room last night, why did you bring a knife with you?”

“To protect myself.”

“To protect yourself? Alicia, Morgan, and everybody in the house for that fact, would never hurt you. Starting today, we’re going to be locking every single weapon in this house in that one section of the pantry. We’re gonna padlock it and you won’t have any idea of the combination to the lock. Until you can prove that you won’t be a danger to yourself or anyone else in this house, you will not be trusted with weapons of any kind. You’ll need to earn our trust back.”

“That’s fair.” Was all Alicia said, knowing she went too far when she brought the knife into Morgan’s room.

Lastly, we need to talk about our new arrivals.” Victor said, referring to the livestock that they brought home.

“Your new chores will be taking care of the animals. All we need you to do is three times a day, you feed and water the animals, change the hay and bedding in their stalls so they aren’t living in their own waste, collect eggs from the hens and milk the cows. Morgan, John or Victor will move the cows out into the barnyard themselves. We do not want you trying to move the animals. Today John is going to be doing those chores because we want you to be introduced to the animals before you do any of that.” Althea said.

“John said that he grew up on a farm so starting tomorrow, he’s going to teach you how to do your jobs safely. How to collect eggs without the chickens pecking you, how to tell fertilized eggs from non-fertilized eggs, and how to properly milk a cow without getting kicked in the head.” Victor finished up.

“Am I still allowed to have the chicken with one leg as my pet?”

“Yes, she can still be your pet.”  

“Can we go see them now?” Alicia asked, excited.

“Darling, you have to finish your breakfast.” Althea said, motioning to Alicia’s bowl of rabbit stew.

“Now that we have chickens that lay eggs, are we gonna start having normal breakfasts?” 

“We’ll probably start having eggs for breakfast, yes, but be happy with your rabbit stew. Some people out there aren’t lucky enough to have breakfast every day.” Althea reminded, getting up and going to the sink.

Alicia nodded and ate her breakfast, so she could get out by the animals faster. 

She and Althea went to the barn when they were done and saw that all the stalls were filled with animals. The two walked over by the cows first. 

“The red cow is named Lulu. The black and white one is named Tessie.”

“Why is Tessie so fat?”

“Because she’s pregnant Alicia. We’re going to have two calves joining the farm in about a month or so.”

“Two calves?”

“John says she’s pregnant with twins.”

Next, they went over to the pen that housed the two sheep. 

“The white one is the boy and his name is Floyd. The black one is the girl and her name is Greta.” 

“Why did you guys get sheep?”

“Because in the Spring, we can shear the sheep and Luciana can use the loom in the basement and make her own wool yarn.”

Next up were the pigs. “The two male pigs are both black. Jasper is the one that’s all black and Jacob has the three pink patches his back. The girls are both pink, and Joy has the black spot on her nose, and Molly has the curlier tale.”

Alicia nodded, trying to keep all this information straight.

“Lastly we have the chickens. Let’s start with the roosters first. The black one is named Trevor, the orangish one is named Caleb and the white one is named Hector. With the hens, the white one is named Petunia, the black one is named Violet, Tulip is the white one speckled with black, Rose is the red chicken, Daisy is the gray chicken, Lily is the orange one, and the gray one speckled with black that has the one leg is yours Alicia. You can name her whatever you’d like.”

“I wanna name her Mrs. Stubs.”

“Are you sure? Because you can take your time with this, there’s no rush on naming her.”

“I’m sure. Mrs. Stubs.”

“Ok. Mrs. Stubs it is.” Althea said, picking the chicken up and gently handing it to Alicia. “Why don’t you sit for a little bit with her and get acquainted.”

Alicia sat on the concrete floor of the barn by the pen where the chickens were. She held Mrs. Stubs in her lap and gently began to stroke the chicken’s feathers.

After Alicia was settled, Althea left the barn to grab her video camera. She took some cute footage of Alicia cuddling with her chicken and after getting what she wanted, she went to put the camera away. 

When she came back she saw that Alicia had put the chicken back in the coop and she was standing by the cows, talking to them. This was when the older woman decided to leave Alicia alone for a bit. The animals were mostly going to be her responsibility, so she should have some time alone to get to know them.

Alicia spent the whole day out in the barn with the animals, watching John when he did the chores that would be hers. He’d go over how to do everything tomorrow, but it was helpful for Alicia to watch and observe.

Later, after supper, Alicia apologized to Morgan and everyone else in the house for her behavior the day prior. She was forgiven by everyone and Althea hoped they wouldn’t have a repeat of yesterday ever again. Now that they had animals, and something for Alicia to focus on, this might help her on the path of getting better, which is the main goal all along.

When it was time for bed, Althea tucked Alicia in and she smiled when she saw how excited Alicia seemed about being able to take care of the animals the next morning.

“Remember, John’s gonna come in to wake you up so he can show you how to do your chores, ok?”

Alicia nodded, smiling. “I can’t wait!”

“Good night Alicia. Love you.” 

“I love you too Al. Good night.”

**Author's Note:**

> btw, Mrs. Stubs is based off a real life one legged chicken named Mrs. Stubs that my mother had when she was a little girl. I will not tolerate any Mrs. Stubs hate in the comments.
> 
> Thanks for reading, see you soon!


End file.
